


Testing the Waters

by SweetSorcery



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Character Death Fix, Frottage, M/M, Male Slash, Romance, Skinny Dipping, Slash, Summer, Teacher-Student Relationship, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-05
Updated: 2015-08-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 02:33:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4504320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetSorcery/pseuds/SweetSorcery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scotland is having a heatwave. Really. But a cooling dip in the Black Lake brings about more than relief.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Testing the Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All canon referred to within belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books, Warner Bros. Inc., and possibly others. Non-canon bits were created for non-profit, non-infringement entertainment.
> 
> Archiving: Nowhere except here. And please no translations either.
> 
> Author's Notes: This was inspired by IJ's snape-potter "Summer Challenge". 
> 
> **More Personal Author's Note:** I've been away from fandom, and from life itself pretty much, for the last couple of years plus. To those of you who have commented and left kudos on my works during all that time and received no reply - please know I eventually read and notice everything (though I may never catch up with responses), and I appreciate it as much, if not even more, than ever. Your continued response to my stories kept me going and made me come back. It really did! Hopefully, I'll return to something of my former prolific output to make up for neglecting to keep up with things. :)

It had been sweltering for the past week. And sweltering temperatures were not something generally associated with Scotland. The only relief came at night, well after the sun had gone down and the waxing moon’s cool light bathed Hogwarts and the Black Lake. 

It was then that students would sneak outside, less concerned than ever about being caught out after curfew. Certainly less concerned than they used to be before the fall of Voldemort. There were assignations atop the high footbridge, on the astronomy tower and in any other windswept and exposed location. 

And the very brave, or the very foolish – after all, there was still the giant squid to worry about - ventured out to the Black Lake for a cooling dip in its inky depths. Harry, of course, was both brave and foolish, not to mention a student in the newly created 8th year, plus the Saviour of the Wizarding World. He was less concerned with curfews than anyone. 

Thus close to midnight, he stood by the edge of the lake, one toe in the dark water, wearing nothing but his birthday suit. He nearly lost his balance when a twig snapped nearby and, realising there was no way he could get back into his discarded shorts, underwear and T-shirt quickly enough to avoid an awkward scene, dove forward into the welcoming coolness.

He swam below the surface for a good 20 metres, then took care to surface among high reeds along the shore. He peered back towards his entry point and groaned softly. It would have to be him!

"Merlin help whatever dunderhead has decided to go for a midnight swim!" bellowed the all too familiar voice, sounding as if it might have bellowed a few times already while Harry was underwater and thus deaf to it.

Harry grinned to himself. What was Snape doing out here at this time of night anyway? Probably collecting potions ingredients. Or maybe he was after a late night cooldown himself. A sudden vision of pale, moonlit skin assailed Harry, and he sucked in a deep breath. For a moment, he yearned for the old days when the only sensation Snape had struck into his heart had been loathing.

"I can hear you splashing about, so you might as well show yourself," Snape stated reasonably. "I’m not going anywhere."

Of course, Harry had guessed as much. And it was not news to him that Snape was in possession of bat ears. He sighed to himself. Letting go of the reeds he’d been clutching, he lowered himself back into the water and swam closer.

"Potter, of course." Snape smirked as soon as Harry came into view. "Who but the Chosen One would presume he was at liberty to disregard curfew altogether?"

"I’m just trying to cool down, like everyone else," Harry answered petulantly, standing as soon as he got to where the water was just below chin deep. 

"Well? Come out, Potter," Snape said. "I have no intention of hauling you out with a fishing rod."

"Um... well, I can’t exactly, sir," Harry stated. He gave a meaningful nod towards the bundle of discarded clothes about a metre from Snape’s left foot.

Snape scoffed. "Shy, Potter? Who would have thought?" To Harry’s mortification, he picked up the rolled up bundle and, shaking the fine sand from it – an unexpectedly thoughtful gesture – held it out towards Harry. "Well?" he prompted, when his student still did not leave the water.

Harry considered his options for a moment. Then he shrugged and began to climb up the muddy shore towards his teacher, who took a sudden step back, the hand holding Harry's clothes remaining raised, and all but croaked, "Where the devil are your underpants, Potter?"

Harry grinned sheepishly. "In your left hand, sir. I didn’t fancy getting them wet."

Snape’s eyes flashed, and he flung the whole set of clothes towards Harry. It all landed in a heap at his feet. "Get dressed at once, Potter. As it is, the pie at dinner didn’t agree with me."

Harry bent forward to pick up his clothes, but some inner imp – presumably the same one who had lately been providing him with any number of unexpected erotic notions regarding Snape - stopped him halfway, and he straightened up again. Snape was still looking at him; he couldn’t be finding the sight as disturbing as all that. What was more, he seemed to be struggling to keep his gaze trained on Harry’s face.

"What are you waiting for?" Snape asked. His voice was no longer its usual steady, snarky self. There was a definite note of huskiness to it.

Harry assessed him closely. Dark eyes not quite able to meet his own, darting downwards for a second at a time... the occasional flick of the tongue over tight lips... hands balled into fists at the sides... He realised he might be reading more into Snape’s reaction to his nakedness than he should, especially as the effect of the cooling dip in the lake was fast wearing off, but if there had ever been an opportunity to test the waters, this was it. 

"I’m waiting to get dry," Harry said, smiling. "Sir."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Why didn’t you bring a towel like any sensible person would?"

"Professor, you know better than anyone, I’ve never been a sensible person." When Snape chuckled low in his chest at that, Harry smiled more brightly, feeling suddenly very reckless.

"For once, Mr Potter, we’re in complete agreement."

Snape’s behaviour towards Harry had changed since he had returned to Hogwarts after his months of absence recovering from the snakebite. There was still all the old animosity on the surface, but it was clearly more habit than anything. It usually did not require much effort on Harry’s part to peel away at it until they reached a more civil, and sometimes almost teasing, interaction. Maybe it was because Snape had shared such personal memories with him. Or maybe he finally realised Harry deserved to be treated like an adult. Or maybe it was simply relief at being alive. Whatever the reason, a part of Harry was worried about shattering their new tentative peace, but he wasn’t a Gryffindor and almost Slytherin for nothing, so he simply waited and gave Snape a challenging look.

"You can’t stand there like that forever, Potter," Snape informed him.

"I don’t think it’s going to take forever, sir." Harry grinned, and added with more self-assurance than he felt, "But if you’re in a hurry, you could always blow me dry."

Snape had worn many expressions during the nearly 8 years Harry had gone to Hogwarts, but this was one he had never seen. It was hard to keep from laughing out loud at the absolute astonishment at Harry’s audacity. Just when Harry thought the shock had actually robbed Snape of the power of speech, he found he was the one to be surprised.

"I could," Snape intoned carefully. "However, I might simply grow bored and leave you standing here, taking your clothes with me of course."

"And have me wandering the school corridors in the altogether, scaring the first years?" Harry retorted. When Snape snorted, he added softly, "I wouldn't let you grow bored, sir."

Snape looked at him with such intensity then that it nearly made Harry fidget and wonder if he’d gone too far. It took a very long minute before he spoke. "Mr Potter, are you offering your naked body for my entertainment?"

The chill from the lake was gone from Harry’s bones altogether, and the blood was fast rushing back not only to his limbs but other less appropriate places, considering his state of undress. He swallowed hard before he spoke. "It’s all yours, sir."

Snape glanced down, then smirked. "So it would seem."

Harry took a step closer. This time, Snape did not retreat. He reached out a hand to Snape’s chest, quietly amused that even on a hot summer night, the man was wearing his usual all-covering clothes. 

Then his wrist was suddenly in an iron grip and he was jerked forward hard. Snape’s eyes burned into his from mere inches away. A strand of black hair fluttered against his cheek. He felt the man’s hot breath on his lips. And he forgot how to do his own breathing.

"Tell me, Harry," Snape murmured low, and Harry shivered at the use of his first name. "Has the heat caused you to take leave of your senses?"

Harry chose not to answer the actual question but to go with something he was actually sure of. "Nothing wrong with my senses, sir," he said huskily, well aware that his every sense was just then attuned to Snape.

Snape gave the captured wrist another tug until Harry’s mouth was so close that they could taste each other's breaths, and Harry's naked form was a tantalising heat along the entire front of his clothed body. When Harry moaned at the contact, he growled, "It had to be you out here."

"I thought the same thing when I saw you," Harry said huskily. He both thanked and cursed the moon for showing him just how intensely Snape's eyes burned.

"I knew this would happen," Snape murmured. "Sooner or later." The hand not gripping Harry's wrist cupped the back of his head as he covered the last inch between them for a fierce, hungry kiss.

Harry held on with his free hand clutching swathes of fabric at Snape's waist. He only had enough freedom of movement to press hard against the taller body, the friction against his damp, bare skin a delicious torment. To them both, for Snape let go of his wrist and wrapped his arm around Harry's back, returning the pressure.

Their almost simultaneous groans parted their lips, and they wasted no time exploring each other's taste more efficiently. Each stroke of Snape's tongue against his made Harry harder, each low rumbling sound echoing in his own mouth sped up his breathing. When he felt the answering hardness even through what seemed like a hundred layers of cloth, he thought he might come on the spot. Reluctantly, he interrupted the kiss, biting down hard on his own lower lip for distraction.

Snape was panting hard against his mouth, only momentarily confused about the untimely break in the proceedings. One glance into Harry's flushed face and dilated pupils was all it took, however.

"No reason to wait any longer," he said with enough gravity to encompass years rather than minutes of waiting, sinking down on his spread knees in the soft shore sand and drawing Harry down to straddle his right thigh.

"Oh God," Harry moaned, every sensation suddenly intensified even further by the hard muscles and soft wool between his legs. For a moment, he simply squeezed his thighs around Snape's, enjoying the sensation, but then the man's mouth went to work on his neck, kissing, licking, biting, and his hands now both held Harry's hips in a tight grip. And he started to shift him closer and away, back and forth, slowly, until it became too much and yet not enough for Harry, and he took over and started riding his teacher's thigh in earnest, his hands clutching for purchase at his shoulders.

"I'm glad I never knew you would look so beautiful like this," Snape said unexpectedly, and so softly he might not have meant for it to be heard.

Harry's movements stilled, and he looked deep into Snape's eyes. He was panting hard, his bare knee nudging against Snape's cock, but he cupped the pale face in both hands and kissed him. It was a long, slow, painfully tender kiss, and only when it started to intensify again did he resume his movements. This time, nothing could have stopped him, certainly not Snape's hands on his buttocks, squeezing and kneeding.

"Any moment now," Harry gasped between their mouths, then tucked his head into the side of Snape's neck and rode his thigh hard – once, twice, three times more, before coming with a low moan.

He thought Snape came too, only moments later, but it might have been a groan of sympathy, for he remained semi-hard.

"Need another dip in the lake now," Harry managed once he was capable of speech again. "Join me? I think I made a mess of you."

"Yes, you certainly did," Snape said, but there was no acerbity in the statement. It sounded more like tenderness. He held Harry by the waist, pushing him just far enough back to meet his eyes. "But I suggest we clean up in my bathroom. It has... advantages."

"Oh?" Harry asked with a smile. He felt quite ridiculously happy. "What advantages?"

Snape returned his smile ever so slightly. "For one thing, there's no chance of random students wandering in, and... it's closer to my bed."

Harry grinned and scrambled to his feet. He dressed in his thin summer gear in record time, then turned to find Snape still rising slowly. "What are we waiting for?"

Snape gave him a look. "For my circulation to return where it belongs. We can't all be 18, you fool."

Harry laughed. He'd miss the snark if it should ever go away completely.

 

THE END


End file.
